The present invention relates generally to locks and locking devices and more specifically to electronic and timer actuated door locking devices for use in a delivery van or the like.
Electrically operated door locks for vehicles are common and are well known in the art. Many operate by the principal of locking all doors on the vehicle from a single point such as a door switch. Some use a pulse circuit in which the closing of all the doors completes the circuit thereby locking all the doors. There are also examples of electronic combination locks located on the front dashboard of a vehicle to control a lockbolt on the back of the vehicle. Timers are also utilized to relock the lockbolt if it has not opened within a given time interval and to lock the door after it has been shut.
In mail delivery and cargo trucks, the driver is continually leaving the truck to deliver packages and other items to customers. This results in a security problem in that drivers must continuously lock and unlock the bulkhead door located between the driver's compartment and the cargo storage area. For example, when the driver reaches a delivery point, the driver must open the locked cargo area with his/her key, remove the delivery package, and relock the cargo door. This is very tedious and time consuming and experience has shown that drivers often inadvertently leave the cargo area unlocked exposing the cargo to pilferage.
None of the previously described locking devices include a mechanism which solves this security problem. The electronic door locking mechanism of this invention automatically unlocks the bulkhead door on the cargo truck or delivery van when the ignition is turned off, and then relocks the lock automatically after a given time interval. This eliminates the necessity of keys for locking and unlocking the cargo door and prevents any problems of inadvertently leaving the cargo door unlocked.